Anthropologist Marc Augé, theorist of non-places, dies at 88

Marc Augé, the influential French ethnologist and philosopher known for his concept of 'non-places,' has died. The news was announced by the Festivalfilosofia di Modena, where he served on the scientific committee. Born in Poitiers in 1935, Augé conducted extensive fieldwork in West Africa, particularly Côte d'Ivoire and Togo, as well as Latin America. He was a director of studies and former president of the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) in Paris. Augé's work redefined anthropology by focusing on everyday contemporary spaces such as service stations and shopping malls, which he termed 'non-lieux' (non-places) — alienating, cultureless spaces contrasted with 'anthropological places.' His ideas profoundly influenced visual arts and cinema. Among his many publications are 'Non-Places: Introduction to an Anthropology of Supermodernity' (1993), 'The Anthropologist and the Global World' (2014), and 'The Force of Images' (2015). The Festivalfilosofia di Modena remembered him as a friend and master whose teachings on cultural practices embedded in symbolic systems remain indispensable.